Ulster Hold Off Glasgow In Grandstand Finish

Ulster started their United Rugby Championship campaign in winning fashion, defeating Glasgow Warriors 35-29 in a scintillating nine-try clash at Kingspan Stadium.

Match Photo Gallery: Ulster 35 Glasgow Warriors 29

A closely-fought first half, at the end of which Glasgow led 15-14, gave way to a purple patch for Ulster as quick-fire tries from Martin Moore and Nick Timoney had them in the box seat.

Ireland Under-20 starlet Nathan Doak, who had replaced hamstring victim John Cooney, put his name to the province’s fifth and final try.

However, Ulster lost James Hume to the sin-bin and were left hanging on during the closing quarter as the new-look Warriors battled their way to a brace of bonus points.

Dan McFarland’s men began with a bang in the opening exchanges, Stuart McCloskey making a break and offloading to Robert Baloucoune who raced down the wing but was tackled just short of the line.

Ulster won a penalty and looked to make use of their maul from the lineout. They changed tack and moved the ball wide, with Glasgow’s Cole Forbes guilty of a deliberate knock-on as Cooney looked to convert an overlap out wide.

Referee Ben Whitehouse produced his yellow card and awarded the penalty try. Three minutes in and the 10,000-strong home crowd were loving it.

The Warriors gradually gained some territory with a spell in the middle of the field. Centre Sione Tuipulotu went on a strong run down the short side to offload to George Horne to score. Duncan Weir was unable to convert.

Ulster’s second try came through a trademark maul after a period of building territory. On his first competitive start, Brad Roberts peeled away to barge over and Cooney slotted the extras.

The visitors quickly earned a penalty, with out-half Weir on target this time as the province’s lead was reduced to 14-8.

Glasgow continued to grow into the game, testing the home defence which remained unbroken until the clock went deep into the red. Johnny Matthews eventually muscled through to score, with Ross Thompson’s conversion nudging the Scots in front.

When the second half got underway, Ulster made a real statement of intent by applying waves of pressure from the get-go. They went on the pick-and-go and prop Moore did really well to dodge a defender and twist around and score.

Talented teenager Doak, who came on to replace the injured Cooney, took over the place-kicking duties and landed the conversion.

Just five minutes later, Ulster pounced again. Billy Burns showed great vision to chip the ball over for Jacob Stockdale to make the tip-on to Timoney, who raced over for the bonus point try – converted by Doak.

With Glasgow needing a timely lift at 28-15 down, Rufus McLean looked certain to score until Stockdale and Hume intervened with last-gasp tackles.

However, following a lengthy TMO review, the referee deemed Hume’s tackle to be illegal – he dived on McLean while he was still on the ground and going for the line. A yellow and a penalty try followed.

Ulster dealt with the young centre’s absence well, fellow Ireland international Will Addison coming on and getting involved in the build-up to the hosts’ fifth score.

He charged down a Glasgow kick, then sent a grubber through and did really well to reclaim possession. He was brought down just shy of the line, but had Doak on his shoulder to finish off.

The scrum half converted his first senior try to leave it 35-22. Back came the visitors, Jamie Dobie collecting Ross Thompson’s offload to touch down in the 64th minute.

The conversion made it a six-point game, Danny Wilson’s charges continued to apply a barrage of pressure on the Ulstermen, but the latter’s superb defence stood firm for the final few minutes.

Giving his reaction afterwards, try scorer Timoney said: “That’s a tough Glasgow side. They were pretty fired up and raring to go, so (we’re) happy to come away with five points from any game in this league.

“Great to be back in with fans at home. The main focus for us (after the last Saracens game) was the breakdown. We maybe didn’t quite get it right again this week.

“Just our general tempo of play was something we’ve been focusing on all pre-season, and I think in the end that sort of told for us. But they certainly made it tough for us in multiple areas.”

He added: “It was unbelievable to have the fans back. It’s a totally different experience, obviously, when there’s thousands of people here and hopefully long may it continue for the rest of the season.

“It makes it a lot more fun coming here and playing. We had a few big defensive sets at the end and that (crowd noise) certainly helped to push us on through those. Great to have them back.”